Shell to get broad-based support for its projects in Russia — Putin

Russian authorities will render an broad-based support for the work of the Royal Dutch Shell company on the Russian market, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
“I am very pleased that your company plans to expand its area of activities in Russia,” Putin said at a meeting with Shell chief Ben van Beurden.
“Either along agreements with your partners or during the implementation of your own projects in Russia, we (the Russian authorities) will render all the necessary administrative support or any other form of assistance,” the Russian president said.
In 2013, Shell announced that it had reached agreements with Russian energy giant Gazprom on the development of offshore fields. Shell is also the gas giant’s partner in the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas development project in Russia’s Far East.
Beurden told the Russian president that his company intended to expand its participation in the Sakhalin-2 project.
“We are proud both about our Sakhalin-2 project and cooperation with Russia in general,” Beurden said. “During our latest meeting with (Gazprom chief) Alexei Miller we came to a conclusion that we need to continue developing this project.”
President Putin also said he hoped that Shell’s cooperation with Russia will be as successful as it had always been, adding that “Shell is one of the major investors in the Russian economy.”
“We may congratulate each other on the successful work and wish each other the same fruitful cooperation in the future,” Putin told Beurden, adding that this year marks the 20th anniversary of cooperation between Russia and Shell.